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“It’s who I was. I—” He pauses, arcs his head up and pushes out a breath.
“Why is this so difficult for you to talk about, Essex?”
“Because I normally don’t.” He stands. Stretches. “Listen, I appreciate this but I should probably get going.”
Starting at his shoes, my eyes roll up his tall frame until they land on his face. “Wow.”
He looks down at me. “What?”
“We’re in the middle of a conversation, and you end it abruptly to make a run for it.”
“I’m not running from anything.”
“Then sit down, Essex.”
He stares down at me for a long time and then he just caves, sits down and angles his body toward me, his knees touching mine. He says, “Okay. Let’s talk.”
“I asked you why it’s hard for you to talk about your mother.”
His right leg bounces up and down when he responds, “Because we weren’t in a good place in our relationship when she passed. I suppose I could’ve worked harder to mend that bond, but I didn’t. My mother hated me for reasons you wouldn’t understand, which is another reason I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I see.”
“Do you have a good relationship with your parents, Quintessa?”
He asks the question in a way that suggests he doesn’t give a crap about my relationship with my parents. It’s just a change of subject from having to talk about his mother.
I say, “Yes. It’s good. They can get on my nerves sometimes, but I know they mean well, just like your mother probably meant well with whatever rift was going on between you two.” I reach to touch his hands. Surprisingly, I feel them tremble beneath my grasp. “If you ever want to talk about anything, you can talk to me. I’ll be your sponge.”
He snatches his hands away from mine. “I’ll keep that in mind. And I mean it—I’ll be more open to your help regarding my attitude.”
“What if I told you I didn’t believe you?” I ask skeptically.
He lifts a shoulder.
“See…look at how nonchalant you are. You’re already backing out.”
“I’m not. Trust me.” He stands again and asks, “Can I leave now?”
“Sure you can. It’s a free country.”
“Is it?”
I giggle and stand up. “That’s a topic for another day. For right now, I want to make sure you mean what you say, Essex DePaul, so I’m going to test you.”
“You’regoing to testme?”
“Yep.”
“How do you suppose you’re going to do that?”
“Tomorrow, I’m going to text you a place to meet me. If you show up and show up on time, I’ll know you’re serious. If you don’t show, I ain’t helping you do jack squat.”
He cracks a smile. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“I am. If you don’t show up, it’s your loss. You’ll continue your destructive warpath until you ruin your whole company, and I’ll be at another job.”
“You’re not going anywhere.”
